Leading film studio, Accelerate Studios, has announced that the highly anticipated fifth edition of its yearly Accelerate Filmmaker Project (AFMP), has officially kicked off and the theme for this year is ‘Healing’.
According to the organisers, the project was born out of passion to support and nurture the incredible talent residing among young filmmakers across Nigeria, providing a platform for emerging filmmakers to sharpen their skills and get the much-needed training to help them succeed in the film and television industry.
Building on the resounding success of previous editions which has seen young filmmakers transformed into industry professionals, it is back to embark on
yet another transformative journey for its students.
Speaking with The Guardian, Accelerate’s CEO, Colette Otusheso, said the award-winning training and mentoring project is designed to train budding television and filmmakers across all aspects of television and film production, connecting them with industry veterans and experts with a wealth of knowledge
and experiences in the film industry.
Over the years, the Project has featured training sessions led by industry experts including BB Sasore, Kemi Adetiba, Victor Sanchez, Joke Silva, Tolu Ajayi, Judith Audu, Chris Odeh, Kemi Lala Akindoju, and so on; all of whom have offered training, insights, and experience for aspiring filmmakers eager to expand their skils and opportunities for growth.
AFMP she said, offers comprehensive training courses in various aspects of filmmaking, including scriptwriting, acting, directing, cinematography, editing, producing, production design, makeup and SFX, soundtrack production, business of filmmaking, film distribution and so on.
Expressing her delight about the project’s return, Otusheso said this year’s edition is going to be more robust and engaging as the programme has been expanded to a 2-week intensive program (from one week). She said they have concluded plans to train and empower the young budding filmmakers, give them the skills, tools, mentorship and access to industry leaders to gain the skills needed to be impactful and employable in the film and television industry.
She revealed that the studio remains committed to pushing the Africa-imagined narative to the world by creating entertaining, educative, diverse, and empowering content; while supporting the development of the Nigerian creative industry, particularly the film industry.
“We have trained and mentored hundreds of filmmakers and seen our alumni go on very successful careers in television and film production as well as garner awards and recognition from blockbuster films, drama series. Their short films have gone on to be featured in film festivals all over the world after receiving training. With continued support from our partners, Access Bank and the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), we believe this edition will train and create even more talented individuals for the film and television industry,” she said.
Adding that their impact lies the lives transformed since inception, she said the training program will round off with a pitch session where trainees will present their short film ideas to the project industry mentors. The top five pitches would be given a substantial budget to shoot their short films under the guidance of the Accelerate Studios team, which will then be showcased at the AFRIFF 2024 edition.
“To be a part of this year’s project, shoot an engaging one-minute film using any device of your choice with the theme Healing. Then post it on your Instagram page and tag @accelerate_tv while using the hashtags #AFMP2024,” she said.
